Scientists Simulate Jet Colliding With World Trade Center

A computer simulation of the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center, by Purdue University researchers, shows how hijacked planes crashed through the Twin Towers, stripping fireproofing materials from the steel columns and eventually leading to their collapse. The 3-D animation, part of a Purdue study that took two and a half years to complete, will hopefully help engineers design safer buildings, researchers said. "When the developers of the World Trade Center first designed the complex, they did take into account of an accidental plane crash," said Christoph Hoffman, one of the study's lead researchers. "The only thing they didn't anticipate is the fire. If the crash impacts the water line, then a fire can burn for a long time."